Intro: Strum Shorthand

Introduction

There are a number of ways to notate strumming. Some of them are very simple and others take up quite a bit of space. The simple ways, like [d du udu], give the minimum of information on the up-down pattern of a strum, but don’t let you know which fingers are involved, exact rhythmic timing or if there are accents or staccatos in more advanced strums. Because of this, I’ve been working to develop a more powerful shorthand notation that packs a lot of information into a tiny amount of space. This system expands on traditional strumming marks and allows players to make notes on their existing lead sheets or lyric sheets, but still have all the information necessary to master a strum. The investment in learning the system pays off, especially when you get to more advanced strums, and you don’t need to learn it all at once. When starting out, all you need to remember is that Π equals a downstroke and that V equals an upstroke. For examples of how the symbols are used in actual patterns, please see the other pages in the strumming section.